Have mixed martial arts (MMA) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) helped or hindered the boxing brand?
I can’t answer that. Our studies show that the overlap of fan base is less than 8%, so I don’t believe their fans are our fans. But I do believe that Dana [White, president and co-founder of UFC] created something that has made all of us who have marketed our product take note that it’s about the sport. So I think a lot of creativity in our marketing plan results from some of the things we have seen: MMA was an online phenomenon initially, while we took a more archaic traditional approach to marketing. Now we are going back to the online world and doing lots of proactive media. MMA brands were forced to go online because traditional media wouldn’t cover them. We, on the other hand, were supported by traditional media, but now see lots of opportunity online. Q: How does the Web help you bring in consumer brands? A: When I’m looking at my marketing plan for this upcoming fight and see our online presence is somewhere around 135 million impressions, I can go to a brand and show them what
